YOUNG MAN ATTACKED WITH IRON BAR WHILE HE SLEPT

A GOREY man is still living in constant fear almost two years after being attacked with a solid metal bar as he slept in his home.

Seamus Stafford of Courteenacurragh, Gorey told Wexford Circuit Court how he was 19 years of age and living in a granny flat beside his grandmother’s home when the assault occurred.

Wayne Purcell of 26, Ashwood Grove, Gorey, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary at Mr Stafford’s home on July 12, 2017 while he was in possession of a metal bar.

Sgt Ray Heffernan told Judge Cormac Quinn that at the time of the assault Mr Stafford was a forensic welder who worked long hours.

On the day in question Mr Stafford had met up with friends first in Ballycanew and then in Gorey before returning home.

When he returned home he called into his grandmother where he remained for a few minutes before going into the granny flat to go to bed.

He fell asleep almost immediately and shortly afterwards heard the door of the flat opening and he was struck by an iron bar. He saw two people in the room while he was repeatedly hit with the iron bar all over his body.

The injured man tried to protect himself but was continually beaten. He was also hit on the head and the side of the face with the bar before he managed to grab the bar and throw it out of the door of the flat.

Sgt Heffernan said the weapon used was a solid metal bar and that Mr Stafford had been able to identify his assailant.

After about 30 minutes Mr Stafford managed to get off the ground and ring his grandmother.

He was treated at Wexford General Hospital before being referred to St James’s Hospital in Dublin for further treatment.

The medical report showed that swelling and bruising was found to his head and face, while he was unable to close his teeth together which was related to the injuries received. He also suffered a fracture to his cheekbone and face and underwent surgery on July 18 of that year.

In a victim impact statement Seamus Stafford said the assault is something he will never forget.

‘I really thought that night I was going to die. When the iron bar broke my teeth, my eyes closed, I thought I was dying, that the assault wasn’t going to stop until I was dead.

‘When I woke up in hospital after the assault I remembered everything. I remembered everything that happened when the assault took place. I remembered who it was and what had happened.

‘I was brought to Wexford Hospital first. I was coming in and out of consciousness, and then I was transferred to St James’s Hospital in Dublin for almost two weeks. I had a fracture in my upper palate and my cheek. I needed surgery to insert a plat and pins in order to reset my face. I had three of my top teeth broken out from the root and three of my bottom teeth broken from the blow to my face with the iron bar. All my food had to he liquidised for eight to ten weeks.

‘My body was badly bruised and sore, my ribs were broke. I was lucky my knee only needed stitches, I could have been knee capped. I had a foot print on the side of my ribs for months.

I had cuts under my eye. I had cuts from my head down to my toes. I was hardly able to walk for almost three weeks.

‘I have all the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. I have trouble sleeping, I fear people, I have flashbacks every day, anxiety, stress, depression.

’Mentally the pain I was going through was torture. Countless sleepless nights, constantly thinking about what happened that night, first thing every morning and last thing every night and numerous times during the day. I would go to bed at night hoping I wouldn’t wake up. I constantly had suicidal thoughts taking over my brain. I wished I had died that night because I couldn’t cope with the pain and suffering all of the time.

‘When my physical injuries healed, my mentality didn’t. I turned to drink to block out what happened. When that didn’t work I tried drugs, then gambling, my life was spiralling out of control, nothing was making me feel better. I became a chronic alcoholic, a drug addict and a compulsive gambler. I was the lad that had my teeth missing. I was a 19-yearold with dentures. My confidence was gone.

‘Before the assault I was in my third year of my apprenticeship, had a really good job as a sheet metal fabricator. I really loved my job and I was really good at it. I haven’t returned to work since the assault. I tried, but would get panic attacks and need to leave. I haven’t been able to return so my apprenticeship is on hold. I don’t know if I will ever be able to go back to it.

‘I wasn’t happy in my own home. I wasn’t happy in work. I wasn’t even happy in the pub. I felt like I was never going to be happy again.

‘My life had changed forever. In April 2018, I hit rock bottom. It was a case of me or the assault, so on May 21, 2018, I went to Aislinn in Kilkenny, a rehabilitation facility. I was there for seven weeks. It was a tough seven weeks trying to bring all the demons that were haunting me to the surface. I was away from my family. I was away from my mum who had just started treatment for cancer. There was so many times I wanted to give up and go home but I would have been back that night. I persevered and went on to secondary treatment for six months.

‘I am now sober, living and receiving counselling every week for post-traumatic stress. I will be one year clean, sober and free from gambling on April 20.

‘I will need to attend St James’s regularly, because my face is constantly swelling up and causing chronic pain, making it difficult for me to eat. As of yet the prescribed medication hasn’t worked. It’s a possibility that I will need further surgery to try and sort it out. I am still suffering mentally, flashbacks of that night haunting me every day. I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep, I live in constant fear that it will happen again. I hope that there will be day when the flashbacks stop and my demons rest.

‘I will never forget though and it’s something I will probably have to live with for the rest of my life.’

Seamus Stafford’s mother said that when she received the call about his assault she thought he was dead. ‘I was catapulted into every mother’s worst nightmare. I can still see my baby curled up on the floor, he was battered and broken, covered in blood, he was in and out consciousness.

‘Watching him for a year going through so much pain both physically and mentally, spiralling out of control, turning to gambling, alcohol, drugs, anything to block out the memory of that night.

‘We are all living in constant fear, afraid in our own home, afraid to leave the door unlocked, afraid to go asleep.’

‘The assault on Seamus that night devastated our whole family. How could he fall victim to such a violent attack while he slept in his own bed?

‘My mother never got over finding Seamus broken and battered almost to death in such a brutal way in her own home.

‘To find him semi-conscious, covered in blood on his bedroom floor was heart breaking, and still haunts her.

‘Our whole family’s life had changed and we didn’t know how to live in fear, and where to draw the line when it comes to protecting those you love, when all you want to do is wrap them in cotton wool and always by your side.

‘That’s not living. But as a mother I am one of the lucky ones. The outcome could have been so much worse. Instead of false teeth, broken facial bones, ribs, knees, cuts, bruises, flashbacks and emotional scars, I could have been getting a grave and a coffin.

‘I’m thankful my son is alive and I’m proud of him because after all the heartache, pain and suffering, my son is now a strong young man who will live his life as a survivor not a victim.’

She also said how the family had installed CCTV around their home.

The court heard Purcell has 11 previous convictions. Acting for Purcell, defence counsel, Aidan Doyle, said Purcell hoped to have a course completed in June.

Judge Quinn remanded him on continuing bail in order to complete the course and ordered for an up-to-date probation report.

He adjourned sentencing to June 19 .